Hailey Steinfeld and Douglas Booth are the star-crossed lovers in the latest incarnation of arguably Shakespeare’s best known tale. Will they be able to make their mark given previous versions?

Studying Romeo and Juliet is a rite of passage for every high school student. Inevitably, at some point during the course the instructor will play the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli classic. If the teacher is particularly progressive the Baz Luhrmann 1996 Romeo + Juliet , hailed at the time as the rock and roll version, might also be seen.

So is there room for another spin on this classic, tragic love-story? According to the LA Times, Italian director, Carlo Carlei’s publicity team, that is courting distributors in Cannes this week, certainly hopes so.

“It’s a classic story that we want every teenager in the world to come see,” Ileen Maisel, one of the film’s producers, told 24 Frames, adding that even though the dialogue retained Shakespeare’s flavor, it was uttered in “understandable iambic pentameter.”

Or as one of the film’s publicists put it: “This is ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for the Twilight Generation.”

Certainly with an OSCAR nomination under her belt, Hailey Steinfeld has youth and talent on her side. Douglas Booth is best known to most Americans for his appearance in the Miley Cyrus film LOL. On the other hand, he received critical acclaim for his work in both Pillars of the Earth and Great Expectations.

Are audiences hungry for another version of Romeo and Juliet? Are Steinfeld and Booth the best choices for the iconic title roles?